influencer conference

Network with Over 100 Home + Housewares Brands

Through 1-on-1 Speed-Networking Sessions!

The Inspired Home Influencer Conference

Mark Your Calendar — Friday, March 13, 2020!

Due to its popularity, the event is even bigger and better than last year — over double the size!We can’t wait to have you join us in 2020. Scroll down for more info.

The Inspired Home Influencer Conference brings lifestyle content creators together around education, peer networking and opportunity for interaction with more than 2,000 home + housewares product brands. Held during The Inspired Home Show, this Conference provides insight into the home + housewares industry, with a focus on how content creation can solve brand and retail challenges and growing influencers’ businesses through new connections and partnerships.

With your ticket to the Influencer Conference, you will receive an all-access media badge to all four days of The Inspired Home Show, the world’s leading home + housewares trade show! This trade show is not open to the public. While you’re there, visit our Influencer Hub to relax, recharge, and take a break, or even take a selfie at one of our selfie stations! Check out live cooking demonstrations from Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen, Ming Tsai, Fabio Viviani, Rick Bayless and more at our Cooking Theater.

Why Attend The Influencer Conference?

Complimentary breakfast & dinner

Learn current trends and best practices by Sabrina Soto, Justina Blakeney, Mary Lauren and Kate Nash, and more!

Meet 100+ established brands and build relationships through brand networking during the conference – open to ALL attendees!

Network with fellow professional influencers in the home, design, food, lifestyle and organization niches

Receive full media access to The Inspired Home Show, which offers 4 days of access to over 2,200 brands, education, a Cooking Theater with celebrity chefs, exclusive events and more!

Facilitating Influencer & Brand Relationships

Every March, the International Housewares Association (IHA) holds the world’s largest home and housewares focused trade show in the world in Chicago: The Inspired Home Show (formerly the International Home + Housewares Show). The Show is closed to the public and has over 2,200 exhibitors from all over the world showcasing their products, including bestsellers and new products that aren’t available in stores yet – and they want to meet you!

The 2020 Show will be our 123rd Show! Over the years, the attendance of bloggers and influencers has continued to grow and in March 2019, we introduced The Inspired Home Influencer Conference, a new event that takes place on Friday before the Show opens. On Friday, March 13, the conference offers attendees a full day of education, speed networking with brands, and networking with other influencers. On Saturday, March 14-Tuesday, March 17, the Inspired Home Show takes place, and your ticket includes full media access to this event.

We understand that influencer and brand relationships are key to current marketing practices. We’re here to teach you the skills for innovative and successful brand partnerships and provide you an exclusive opportunity to meet with over 2,200 home and housewares brands at our Show. We hope to facilitate valuable connections to help you do business, drive brand partnership access for your website, introduce you to products that are new to your readership, and increase consumer awareness and interest in home products through your social influence.

Due to its popularity, the conference has been expanded and offers even more advanced education! Whether you’re new to our conference or joining us again, we can’t wait to show you everything we have in store!

Sabrina Soto

Opening Keynote Speaker

Sabrina Soto is one of the world’s most sought after lifestyle experts, most recently on TLC’s reboot of Trading Spaces and While You Were Out. From home décor and design, food, beauty and fashion, Soto covers it all. Her unique ability to curate in a variety of spaces, providing outlets for people with varying budgets, styles and personalities truly sets her apart. She sees possibilities where others see a roadblock and is able to relay this vision to her audience in an exciting and engaging way. Currently living in Los Angeles, Sabrina tirelessly juggles the demands of being a mom to Olivia, designing, consulting and filming. When not working on a project, she treats her friends and family to her second passion of cooking.

Get Your Tickets for $349 Before They Sell Out!

Meet Our Speakers

Tessa Arias

Tessa Arias is a professionally trained chef and cookbook author. In 2009 she founded Handle the Heat where she shares original baking recipes and insights into the science of baking. Her work has been featured in People, Glamour, and on NPR. She resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

Susie Bulloch

Todd and Susie Bulloch are the husband and wife duo behind the popular BBQ food blog, Hey Grill Hey, and BBQ product line, Patio Provisions. Susie has appeared on Food Network and Todd spends his free time writing and recording royalty-free music for content creators at Shiny Heads Productions.

Kevin Masse

With nearly 15 years of media and branding experience, Kevin Masse has become an industry leader in the world of influencer marketing within the food, travel and lifestyle space. Kevin heads up all influencer marketing initiatives for Bake from Scratch magazine and oversees all their digital and social brand partnerships on @thebakefeed. Through his work with Bake from Scratch magazine, Kevin has helped brands bridge the gap between digital and print. Kevin has worked with more than 600 influencers and gained expertise in navigating the world of brand partnerships and in helping influencers create content that resonates with their communities and drives repeat business.

Kevin is a self-taught home cook, baker, recipe writer, and social media influencer. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut with his husband, Michael, and their two Brussels Griffons, Huxley and Orwell. Kevin recently started a small business called Small State Provisions, selling granola and sourdough bread out of his Connecticut kitchen.

Mary Lauren

Mary Lauren is the author and influencer behind the blog Headed Somewhere and Instagram account @MaryLauren. Along with sharing her personal life experiences as a mother of two little boys, she also dives into home making, interior design, and is currently sharing the renovation process of a charming South Carolina lake house.

Mary Lauren has worked with numerous brands, bringing their ideas, product focus and campaign goals to life. Crate and Barrel, Home Goods, KitchenAid, Brooklinen, Benchmade Modern, and The Company Store are among her recent home space campaigns that she has enjoyed shooting, styling and sharing most. She has also consulted many brands behind the scenes, offering influencer insights, as well as product photography and video. Mary Lauren is a recent Southern transplant from San Diego and is residing lakeside with her husband and two children.

Evan Dash

Evan Dash left the corporate world as SVP of Macy’s to heed his entrepreneurial calling. He began investing in consumer product companies while helping them gain placement at major retailers. In 2010, Dash founded StoreBound, which develops housewares focused on better living under the brands Dash, Sobro, Maytag & Zakarian, and distributes its products through top-tier national retailers like Crate & Barrel, Target & QVC. StoreBound distributes to over 20,000 stores in 4 continents and has over 1mm Instagram followers.

Charity Lighten

Charity is an author, speaker, and below-average golfer. Canadian by birth, German by work ethic, American by citizenship, and French by her love of pastries, Charity has shared her messages with thousands of people all over the globe. She has a passion for life, wellness, business, and people. She is eager to share the lessons she has learned as a wife, mother, entrepreneur, CEO, and recent widow. Charity combines a business degree, a graduate degree and over 15 years of experience engaging audiences across every sector.

Evette Rios

Evette Ríos is a Puerto Rican television host, lifestyle expert, writer, and native New Yorker. She is the host of The Way Home on Lifetime and A&E, and Recipe Rehab airing on CBS, Z Living, and Hulu. She has also served as Director of Development for Latina Media Ventures, worked as a reporter on ABC’s The Chew, and has frequent guest appearances on Rachael Ray, The Today Show, and many other well-known media outlets.

Evette brings her trademark can-do lifestyle content both in book and online format, and has expertise in representing brands in both English and Spanish. Evette lives in Tribeca, NY with her husband Stephen, her two children Yago and Rex, her dog Baloo, and cat Miss Kitty.

Amalia Safran

Amalia Safran works on the digital marketing team at OXO, a New York based housewares brand. In her day to day, she focuses on bringing the OXO brand story to life through influencer marketing, onsite blog content and brand partnerships. Previously, Amalia worked at a public relations agency working on clients in the lifestyle, health and home industries.

Justina Blakeney, Jungalow

Special Speaker

Justina Blakeney is a designer, artist, and New York Times best-selling author of The New Bohemians and The New Bohemians Handbook. With a passion for color, pattern and plants, Justina and her design blog and online shop, Jungalow®, have quickly become the go-to sources for bohemian design inspiration. For Justina, decorating is about feeling free, having fun and getting a little bit wild.

As one of the leading design personalities on the web, Justina has over two million followers online and has been named a top designer to follow on Instagram by Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine and Lonny magazine. Justina’s eponymous label, Justina Blakeney Home™, includes a wide range of lifestyle and home products including furniture, case goods, rugs, pillows, wallpaper, bedding and stationery. Justina lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jason, young daughter Ida, kitty Luda and 52 houseplants

About Jungalow: Justina’s award-winning design blog and online shop, Jungalow®, features inspirations, how-tos and ideas for how to live with color, pattern and plants. Jungalow® has been named one of the best design blogs on the web by Domino magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Marie Claire and the Refinery29 website. In 2017 Justina and her team launched the Jungalow online shop that features signature JB designs as well as a curated ensemble of bohemian modern goods from around the globe.

What is Jungalow? Jungalow® is the term coined by Justina for the brand that embodies her own home and style – wild, but cozy and homey. Mix handmade items from all over the world with the sleek lines of modern design. Then sprinkle in a hint of the tropics and garnish with a whole lotta plants. What you get is her signature #Jungalow!

Kate Usher, TrendBible

Closing Keynote Speaker

Kate Usher, Trend Consultant, Trend Bible will be presenting, ‘2021 Trends Impacting Householders’. This will include an introduction to trend forecasting for the home and interiors market, along with inspiration and future design direction for houseware products. The presentation will explore the big shifts in consumer lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours that are influencing design for the home and how these result in color and design trends for 2021.

Kate User specialises in bespoke consultancy, working primarily with the Home & Interiors sector. As a design industry expert with over ten years’ experience, she advises on insight and design trends for some of the world’s biggest retailers and brands. Kate is able to scan, analyse and filter insight into projects, ensuring clients feel well informed, inspired and confident in their decision making.

Trend Bible are a global trend agency and leaders in predicting the future of life at home. They work collaboratively with the world’s best brands helping them seize tomorrow’s opportunities. If it can be done in, or to, the home – Trend Bible are already tracking weak signs of upcoming shifts in taste and habit around the world. Whether it’s the future of eating, decorating, playing, celebrating or bringing up children, they apply their expertise to develop those signals into strong and simple trend forecasts that create commercially successful products which connect with future audiences and stay true to brand.

Our presentation will provide valuable foresight for anyone involved in producing, selling or marketing products for the home, providing inspiration for color, material, shape and pattern as well as functionality.

2 — 4:00 PM

Speed Networking & Excursions

4:15 PM

Consumer Trends and Insights for Influencers and Brands in 2020

6 — 8:00 PM

After Party

Exclusive networking event to relax, unwind, and make meaningful connections with likeminded influencers.

FAQs

What does my registration include?

Your registration includes access to the 1-day Influencer Conference on Friday, March 13, 2020 AND media access to The Inspired Home Show on Saturday, March 14-Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

What is the return policy?

Tickets are non-refundable.

What airport should I fly into?

Chicago has two large international airports that are both convenient options: Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). They are both equally close to the city, so you should book based on which airport offers the flight times and/or airlines you want. For example, Southwest only flies into Midway.

How do I get to McCormick Place?

Complimentary shuttle bus service will be provided between the official block hotels and McCormick Place during morning and evening hours. The schedule and routes for the 2020 Show will be coming this fall.

If you don’t plan to take a shuttle bus, we recommend taking Uber or Lyft to McCormick Place, 2301 South King Drive, Chicago 60616. There are several entrances to the convention center, so ask your driver to drop you off at Gate 4 of the South Building.

How do I get my badge?

For your convenience, there is only ONE badge that will get you into both the Influencer Conference AND The Inspired Home Show the remainder of the weekend. The registration table will be located outside of the conference room. Please present your ticket and ID at check-in.

Once I get to McCormick Place, how do I get to the conference room and registration table?

When you enter McCormick Place at Gate 4 of the South Building, there will be signs directing you to the conference in room S100, which is located right off the main lobby. The registration tables will be located directly in front of the entry to the conference room. Maps will be published closer to the event.

Will there be allergy-free foods available?

Yes, all three meals will have gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan options available.

When can I schedule brand networking appointments?

All conference attendees will be able to participate in brand networking. The room will be laid out as an expo with 100+ brands, and you can schedule appointments with them and/or browse the expo and stop to meet with brands as you walk around. Appointments will be available for scheduling by early February after all the brands have signed up.

If I'm an exhibitor, what is the benefit of participating?

The rise of the influencer and the role they play in shaping consumer tastes and purchasing makes them a critical piece of the home and housewares supply chain. The Inspired Home Show attracts hundreds of influencers with a combined reach of more than 50 million. The Inspired Home Influencer Conference, held the Friday, March 13 before the Show opens, welcomes more than 300 influencers for a focused day of education and networking, including speed dating with exhibiting companies.

If I am an exhibitor, how do I buy tickets?

If you’re exhibiting at The Inspired Home Show 2020, admission to the Influencer Conference is free but seating is limited. Please contact Kristin Cihon to check availability and RSVP.

This page is mainly related to the Influencer Conference. Where do I find info for the trade show (The Inspired Home Show) the rest of the weekend?

This page is part of The Inspired Home Show website. You can use the menu to navigate the site and learn all about the trade show, including location and hours, expos, displays, etc. More info relating to the Show will continue to be added to the website and this page starting Fall 2019. Informational emails sent to all Influencer Conference ticket holders prior to the event will also provide more details and FAQ’s relating to the trade show.

Martin M. Pegler

1923 — 2020

Martin M. Pegler was a professor for thirty years in the Display & Exhibit Design Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. A leading expert in his field for over 60 years, Martin hosted seminars in the United States as well as in Latin America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. He authored over 80 books and his textbook, Visual Merchandising and Display, is used in universities around the world. Martin was presented with a lifetime achievement award by PAVE, the Planning & Visual Education Partnership that supports retail design education for students and educators. He was also inducted into the Visual Merchandising and Display Industries’ Hall of Fame.

Martin worked with gia from the beginning of the gia program in 2000, as an Expert Juror, and since 2016 as an honorary member of the gia Expert Jury. To honor Martin’s leadership role with the program, the Top Window Award was renamed the “Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising” in 2008. Also that year, he was presented with an honorary gia Award for Lifetime Achievement.